18 October, 2007

SUPPORT THE SREBRENICA MEMORIAL QUILT

Any Questions?Contact us at srebrenicagenocide@live.comand we will gladly help you with the process. Each panel costs only $40 and you will be acknowledged in literature for your contribution. Please spread the word, and ask your friends and family to get involved!

"... The larger the quilt, the larger its impact will be on the international community in remembering those who were lost in 1995 and the strength of those who survived it." - Ting Ting Wu, Advocacy Project

BOSFAM has launched the Memorial Quilt Project as a memorial to over 8,000 men, children (boys), and elderly who died during Srebrenica genocide. (see detailed list of the victims with their DOB, Yugoslav ID #s, and other personal information)

The quilt project was conceived by the Bosnian Family (Bosfam), a women’s organization based in Tuzla and Srebrenica, which represents women from Eastern Bosnia who were displaced by the conflict. Many of Bosfam’s members lost relatives in the Srebrenica massacre. Bosfam is being supported in the United States by the Association of Srebrenica Survivors, the Bosnian Media Group and the Advocacy Project, in Washington DC. Women socialize and work together, regardless of age, religion, ethnic background, or education.

In turning the panels into a single quilt, the weavers are hoping to create a living memorial to those who were killed. They hope that others who lost relatives in the massacre will commission panels, and that the quilt will help them to connect to others who also suffered. Relatives can commission a hand-woven panel for $40 by contacting BOSFAM (email) directly, or via The Advocacy Project (att: Mendi email). See the How to Commission a Panel page and BOSFAM's FAQ page for more information. All money raised will cover the cost of weaving.

In addition, the organization seeks to promote ethnic reconciliation by opening its doors, and its looms, to both Serb and Croat women who suffered during the war.

The quilt currently comprises 20 panels, each commemorating a victim of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre. Families who lost relatives are being invited to commission new panels. As new panels are added to the quilt, the quilt will grow in size, keep the memory of the massacre alive and used to make the case for more material and emotional support for Srebrenica survivors.

The current panels for the quilt were woven by members of Bosfam, who lost relatives in the massacre. Bosfam weavers will willingly weave new panels for other families. They see this weaving project as a way to stay in touch with other survivors. For a profile of the weavers, you can visit this page.

The quilt is dedicated to those who lost their lives in the Srebrenica genocide, which occurred in July 1995 under the 'protection' of the United Nations. For a map of the names click here. As the quilt attracts new panels, it could also move around the world and be used at events which commemorate the destructiveness of the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, and the resilience of survivors. The weavers hope that as the quilt grows in size it will keep the memory of the Srebrenica massacre alive.

BOSFAM was founded in 1994 by Munira Beba Hadzic, a former primary schoolteacher in Srebrenica. Prior to this, Beba had started a knitting project in 1993 with Oxfam for women displaced during the war. For more on the history of BOSFAM, see their history page.

According to Ting Ting Wu of the Advocacy Project:

The memorial quilt I mentioned is currently comprised of 40 panels, each panel commemorating a victim of the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre. It was launched in St. Louis and will be displayed at a national quilting convention in Houston next month. After that, we will be exhibiting it in Boston, Washington DC to lawmakers, and any other place in the states where we can gather there is a local community of support for this project. Currently, we are searching for those who may have lost someone during the massacre and would like to commemorate a quilt panel to his/her memory. We are also seeing if there are people who are willing to sponsor a quilt panel for someone else.

Srebrenica Genocide Blog, and people behind it, strongly endorse this project. To sponsor a weaver, order their products, or for further information on the Srebrenica memorial quilt, please visit BOSFAM or Advocacy Project! Also, we encourage you to sign petition to Arrest Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.

SPECIAL THANK YOU:

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Srebrenica Genocide is not a matter of anybody's opinion; it's a judicial fact recognized first by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and subsequently by the International Court of Justice.